Winds topple trees across lines

Fire departments, rescue personnel and utility crews scrambled Tuesday evening as high winds roared through the Flathead Valley, creating a host of problems with trees and power lines.

Trees were toppled across powerlines at a variety of places in the Bigfork, Lower Valley, Somers. Coram, Marion and Tally Lake areas. A tree was reported across the roadway in the Goat Lick area of U.S. 2 at the southern edge of Glacier National Park.

Winds gusted to nearly 50 mph early in the evening as storm effects began to mount.

Scattered power outages were reported as the storm intensified.

The winds were expected to reach their peak during the night Tuesday. See Thursday’s Inter Lake for more details.

Whitefish Police and an ambulance had to respond to Colorado Avenue after a woman needed help because of a medical emergency caused by bread left strewn outside of her apartment door and walkway for a second day. The woman has a gluten sensitivity and her throat closes off when she is exposed to bread. Police logged a criminal mischief report.

Officers were unable to locate a person reported on East Second Street who tied his dogs up outside a pizza establishment. A mother reported the dogs because they allegedly tried to bite her child as they walked past.

Columbia Falls Police removed a man who was booing in city court to a holding cell so that he could regain composure.

Flathead County Sheriff’s deputies told a man he was no longer welcome at a transit company after he repeatedly called a dispatcher and made threats over the course of two weeks. The man eventually showed up at the business ranting and raving in person, before he left. Deputies addressed the issue at the man’s home on Willow Glen Drive.

Deputies gave advice to a professional dog boarding business whose owner called after a dog’s owner abandoned the animal. The dog had been left at the business for 18 days, without contact from the owner. The business was told to send the owner a certified letter.

Thieves on Shady Lane targeted money machines in laundry units with pry bars and a drill. Between $200 and $400 of damage was reported.

A report about a neighbor stealing a chainsaw from a Larch Lane residence led to a convicted felon who was wanted on more than $30,000 warrants out of Kalispell and Missoula.

A deputy responded to Grandale Avenue in Kalispell and informed a father that it was not law enforcement’s job to lecture his 12-year-old daughter about the importance of eating her vegetables, or anything else. The father had called for assistance after the girl refused to eat her meat loaf and drowned it in a bottle of ketchup. She reportedly broke a birdhouse prior to the officer’s arrival.

Kalispell Police Department logged a report about a Northern Lights Boulevard mailbox being hit with a pumpkin overnight. There was minor damage to the mailbox.

An elderly woman called from Second Avenue West to report that she had lost track of her walker. The woman was worried she would fall without the walker and said that she thought she may have left the walker at the bank. The woman also could not find her bank paperwork and thought it might be with the walker. Bank staff told an officer that they would check to see if they could locate the walker.

A person at the intersection of Third Avenue East and 11th Street East reported that someone had driven by with a revolver stuck out of a vehicle window. The caller said the person with the revolver did not point it at anyone. The caller was unsure if a road rage incident had occurred. An officer checked the area out, but found nothing.

Police responded to a coffee kiosk on Center Street after the owner reported an incident where a man in white face paint and “crazy” colored clothing walked up to a customer’s vehicle and banged on the window. The driver screamed in fear, according to the kiosk worker. This is not the first time the unwelcome guest has appeared.

Three headless ducks were reported in front of a business on Second Avenue East North. An officer removed one of the birds. He could not locate the others, but it is unlikely they left under their own power.

A person on Blue Crest drive reported the third pumpkin attack on a house in as many days. Officers increased patrol.

A man was taken to jail for violating a restraining order after he came to his mother’s house on Liberty Street and started throwing things around and then began vomiting. The person who reported the man said it appeared that the man may have been coming off of drugs.